Tag Archives: Donald Trump

In this interview below Paul Craig Roberts describes the neo-conservative ideology that has driven geopolitics since the end of World War II, and discusses the elite agenda, the prospects for the Trump presidency, and the US economy.

He comes closer than in his earlier statements to highlighting the key control mechanism of domination—the global money system, but still falls a bit short, as indicated by his statement that if there is a severe economic crisis in the US, the Federal Reserve “will have to abandon the banks and save the dollar.”

On that I disagree. Roberts seem not to realize that the FED, as well as virtually all of the other central banks of the various countries around the world, is controlled by the big transnational banks, and that they work together to, as Prof. Carroll Quigley said, create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent private meetings and conferences.

The banking elite thereby control not only the dollar, but all of the other major world currencies. If the inflation rates or unemployment rates become too high in one country, the central banks can spread the misery around by monetizing various securities and manipulating interest rates and currency exchange rates.

For the past several decades the US dollar has been their primary monetary tool, but the dollar is not the be all and end all in their schemes. You can be sure that the banking elite always have a plan. At some time in the not too distant future when the dollar has outlived its usefulness, it will be replaced by a single global currency that will give the elite even tighter control over financial, economic, and political affairs around the globe.

The flies in the ointment of their plan are (1) a few governments that are bent on steering an independent monetary and financial course, and (2) the emergence of independent, non-governmental and decentralized exchange mechanisms and currencies. In the first case, Iraq under Saddam Hussein and Libya under Gaddafi were easily disposed of (but at tremendous costs). Russia and China pose a much bigger problem for the elite, hence the stalemate in Syria and the drum beat of propaganda against Putin and the fear mongering against the Chinese. With regard to alternative exchange mechanisms, the proliferation of virtual commodities like Bitcoin and others suggests that elite control may be vulnerable to innovative and disruptive technologies. But these virtual commodities mark only the beginning of the new paradigm in money and finance. Ultimately, ways will be found to create an “internet of credit” based on decentralized, personalized, local control and backed by real goods and services.

Paul Craig Roberts has been inside and outside of the U.S. Government. He served under President Ronald Reagan and was a colleague of Zbigniew Brzezinski at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, where Roberts occupied the William E. Simon Chair in Political Economy. He has had a unique vantage point from which to observe over his long career the dynamics of power and global developments. His website is a treasure trove of commentary that provides clear insight into what in the world is going on.

His recent post, Washington’s Empire Is Not Unraveling, argues that despite president Trump’s recent actions, the military-industrial-financial complex remains firmly in control and the agenda of “full spectrum dominance” is still on track.

He points out that, with the help of the mains stream media, “Americans and the world are blinded to the fact that there are power centers that constrain a president and are capable of substituting their agendas for the agendas on which the president campaigned.” Read the full article here.

And for insights into how the global financial system is malfunctioning, in addition to David Stockman, whom I mentioned in Part 1, you also need to follow Chris Martenson via his website, Peak Prosperity. In this video, https://youtu.be/E1g57mjGcGc he talks about the massive inflation of money that has characterized recent actions by three major central banks, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Japan, and the European Central Bank. All three have been furiously “printing money” which they use to buy securities, thus creating asset bubbles–not a good sign for long-term prospects.

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Michael Hudson is one of the few academic economists who is worth listening to. He understands how bankers and politicians of both major parties have been deceiving and fleecing the people and he is willing to expose it. In this video he explains how it works and how both Trump and Hillary have planned to continue (and intensify) the fleecing

In an earlier post prior to the election I observed that, “The US has been on the road to fascism for a long time. Both Democrats and Republicans have for decades been advancing the same agenda of ceding power to transnational mega-corporations and the global banking cartel. So called “free trade” agreements are simply ways of allowing capital to more freely, exploit labor and the environment, and forcing governments to guarantee their profits.

Changes in financial regulations, like the repeal of Glass-Steagall under Bill Clinton in 1999, have enabled banking companies to grow to monstrous size (“too big to fail”) and to more easily cheat the clients they are supposed to serve.”

Now Jordan Chariton, while he does not call it fascism, details this trend in his article, Trump’s victory over Clinton was sealed 40 years ago. He points out that Bill Clinton continued the trend that began under Ronal Reagan, and that it was Clinton who presided over the deregulation of the Telecom Industry, repeal of Glass-Steagall, deregulation of credit-default swaps, loosened banking rules, and NAFTA, all of which contributed to the dismantling of American manufacturing and the decline of the American middle class.

He concludes that “The GOP, and Donald Trump, is not the answer. Unfortunately, a cowardly and corrupt Democratic Party let millions of people think they are.”

Another indication of that reality is the stock market surge on the day after the election. The companies that gained the most were banks, weapons manufacturers, and drug companies.

No, Donald Trump is not the one who will “make America great again.” That is a job that needs to be done by you and me and all of us working together to find common ground and create new systems and structures that are honest, open, transparent and consistent with our most fundamental values.

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David Stockman, who was Budget Director under President Ronal Reagan, makes a great deal of sense in this essay which is about much more than Donald Trump’s “domineering and authoritarian personality” and his scary authoritarian inclinations (he accuses Trump of being and “incipient police statist.)” Stockman also presents facts that belie the justifications for insane government policies like monetization of government debts, the war on drugs, and foreign interventions, as well as the illusions created by the sensationalist media. I recommend reading the entire article but here are a few excerpts.—t.h.g.

“…both parties are fully onboard, of course, with the massive fraud that has become central bank policy both here and around the world.”

“The Fed has actually purchased $4 trillion of Treasury debt and GSE securities since the year 2000 and funded it with credits conjured from thin air. This has been a monumental act of “something for nothing” economics in which the trillions Congress has wasted on war and peace have been financed with digital money magic.”

“The purported crime and terrorism wave, in fact, is essentially a figment of cable news version of reality TV, and most especially the CNN War Channel and its perennial Black versus Blue &White race narrative. …According to the FBI data there has been an astonishing 50% reduction in the U.S. violent crime rate since the early 1990s.”

And regarding the supposed increase in targeting of police officers by criminals, Stockman points out that, “In fact, the actual rate of intentional, felonious killings per 100,000 officers has been plummeting for decades. During 2014 it was actually 71% lower than the year Ronald Reagan left office.”

“At the end of the day, the overwhelming message of the data is that there is no crime wave nor an eruption of police violence on either the giving or receiving end.” —More

It has been said that “all TV is entertainment.” Whether a program is labeled “news” or a “candidates’ debate,” that characterization still applies. Well, the current Presidential campaign has sure been entertaining, with Donald Trump’s bombast and Bernie Sanders’ grandfatherly populism, in contrast to Hillary Clinton’s bland appeal to feminism and her (dubious) record of achievement.

Hillary is clearly the favorite of the establishment, the darling of Goldman Sachs and big corporate business, and the standard bearer for the status quo and continuation of Obama’s policies.

On the Republican side, it seems that no establishment candidate has so far been able to derail the Trump march toward the nomination. The last best hope for them at this point seems to be Ted Cruz. While Cruz has been trying to portray himself as being against the big banks, the fact is that his wife, Heidi, is an investment banker and a longtime employee of Goldman Sachs. Furthermore, his 2012 Senate campaign was financed in part by a sizeable loan from Goldman Sachs. For the details on all of this see John Cassidy’s New Yorker article at http://www.newyorker.com/news/john-cassidy/ted-cruzs-goldman-sachs-problem.

Despite the evident philosophical differences between Republicans and Democrats and the outdated characterization of political sentiments as being either right or left, conservative or liberal, the phenomenon of massive popular support for the two apparent anti-establishment candidates, Donald Trump and Bernie Sander, reflects a deeper concern that is shared amongst their supporters.

They are sick and tired of politics as usual and the course this country has been on for the past three decades.

They are sick and tired of:

Politicians who promise one thing but deliver another.

“Political correctness” that interferes with our ability to debate the deeper issues and concerns.

The rich getting richer and ever more powerful while the middle class is being destroyed.

Big banks that are “too big to fail” yet refuse to provide adequate financing to small local businesses.

Legislation that favors big corporations over small and medium-sized enterprises.

Fiscal policies that reduce taxes on corporations and the rich while forcing states and municipal governments to assume ever greater burdens.

Trade agreements that cede power from sovereign governments to transnational corporations thus undermining democratic government, the rights of labor, and environmental protections.

A disastrous foreign policy of interference in countries around the world that kills thousands of innocent people and stirs up hornet’s nests of resentment that manifest as massive displacements of people and acts of terror against the U.S. and its European NATO allies.

Can either Trump or Sanders, or anyone else for that matter, remedy any of those concerns from the White House? Given the present political structures and dynamics of power based on the control of money, that seems very unlikely. Reversing the destructive anti-democratic trends will take a massive popular movement, one that makes clear to people what their common interests are, and is able to get them to work in harmony toward common goals.

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In this recent interview below, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts describes the “house of cards” that is today’s global regime of money, banking and finance. Since the financial crisis of 2008, the major central banks around the world—the Federal Reserve, the … Continue reading →

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In this interview below Paul Craig Roberts describes the neo-conservative ideology that has driven geopolitics since the end of World War II, and discusses the elite agenda, the prospects for the Trump presidency, and the US economy. He comes closer … Continue reading →

This recent report on the popular TV show, CBS Sunday Morning, highlights the effectiveness of direct credit clearing among buyers and sellers of goods and services–a way of doing commerce without the need for money or banks. See also my … Continue reading →